I was reading a Wired article about the statistics of death in the United States compared to the “Politics of Fear” type shit you see on the news left and right. To believe the news, I’d be insane to not flee New York for the hills because Al Qaeda’s going to kill my skinny, white ass any second now and if I was smart enough to head for the mountains, I should probably dig a bunker because they’re going to nuke that shit too. However, Wired points out the actual statistical reality of mortality in the States, complete with a nice little color-coded chart á la Dept. of Homeland Security’s absolutely retarded threat advisory chart.

Sanely speaking, death by terrorism ranks second to lowest (lowest being that radical, extremist, Jihad-freak: Carbon Monoxide). The flu, a hernia, driving and just about everything else you might prefer to die of all rank much, much higher.

What caught my eye, was the fact that you’re more likely to be shot by law enforcement (3949) than killed by a terrorist (3147). I wonder what the numbers might rise to if being killed by the government, such as being shipped off to Iraq or being neglected in New Orleans after Katrina were to be factored in. Who would be the bigger killer of American citizens? Al Qaeda or the Bush administration?

There’s a crazy-ass documentary video being circulated showing a mock disaster response from a massive terrorist attack. The thirty minute video, featuring news anchor Forrest Sawyer, covers an outbreak of the plague in New Jersey as well as a suicide bomb and a plane used to deliver hazardous chemicals to civilians resulting in several thousand dead and injured. Apparantly it’s part of the TOPOFF exercises held by the Dept. of Defense just a little while ago to test response and preparedness in the face of an attack. It’s surreal. If you have a Bittorrent client, you can get the 83 meg file here. Remember, it’s all just a test.